What Have We Learned In Preseason Testing?

The preseason testing for the 2010 F1 season is underway. The question is what have we learned and what can we take to the bank as far as expectations for the first race?

The short answer is we haven’t learned anything. Contrast this with the news prior to the 2009 season when McLaren was clearly in trouble. The late launch of Brawn led us to believe that a huge upset during the season could occur. 2010 has revealed none of this. The front running teams all seem to be fairly solid, but nobody can tell since fuel tanks are so huge this year and people are running with wildly different fuel loads. Still, there are some general discoveries.


Shumi

As expected, Michael Schumacher looks very good. The fact he was pushed out of Ferrari as a driver a few years back seems to have been affirmed. The Mercedes doesn’t look like a world beater out of the gate, but the combination of Schumacher and Brawn is one that should not be bet against.

McLaren Design

McLaren has long built beautiful cars, but the 2010 model is ugly. This is purely a visual thing. The most humorous thing about it is the car seems to be designed based on the 2009 Red Bull which was designed by…Adrian Newey – a certain designer McLaren let go of!



First Race Madness

The first race in March is going to be madness. Not only has testing been limited, but many of the days that have occurred have happened in the rain. The cars are going to be heavily under developed going into Bahrain. Expect major speed differences and perhaps a larger number of failures than you might see in a normal race.

The 2010 season is shaping up to be a wild one if for no other reason than we have no idea what is going to happen. My personal bet is Red Bull will be dominant, but who knows. If we are lucky, there will be four or five teams all on even footing and the racing will be tremendous.

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